The Senate today agreed to exclude as many as 500,000 criminal aliens from a plan to give undocumented immigrants legal status, agreeing to compromise on a proposal that nearly killed immigration legislation last month. The Senate voted 99-0 to accept an amendment by Rep John Cornyn of Texas & Jon Kyl or Arizona to bar felons, repeat offenders & other criminal aliens from gaining legal status under a provision to give many of the 11 million immigrants illegally in the US a path to citizenship. ``We don't want people who are convicted felons, guilty of crimes, to be eligible for citizenship in this country,'' Arizona Rep John McCain said. ``At the same time we didn't want to go too far.'' The Senate is working through more than 20 amendments to an overhaul of immigration policy that would also strengthen border security & create a new guest-worker program. Notice that they use “Undocumented Immigrants” instead of Illegal Immigrants, they don’t want to upset potential voters. ... http://quote.bloomberg.com

Indian officials have held a special screening of controversial Hollywood blockbuster The Da Vinci Code after protests by Christians. Government officials and Catholic leaders viewed the film after broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi received over 200 complaints. Mr Dasmunsi said opinions would be sent by Friday to censors who would take a final decision on the film's release. The film receives its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. India's Central Board of Film Certification cleared the film on Monday, saying it would give it an adult rating if the film-makers agreed to a disclaimer at the start of the movie saying it was a work of fiction. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4989062.stm

Five more people have died from bird flu in Indonesia, the World Health Organization has confirmed. The deaths of the five brings Indonesia's bird flu death toll to 30. Four of the people who died lived in northern Sumatra and were from the same family. The WHO has sent a team to the area to investigate. An Indonesian health ministry official told Reuters news agency there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission in the latest cases of the H5N1 virus. In the cluster of cases in northern Sumatra, up to eight members of a family in Kubu Simbelang village, about 50km (30 miles) south of Medan, could be involved. Tests are still being carried out to see whether sick relatives also have bird flu. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4988788.stm

Japanese bankruptcies have increased in April as the world's second-largest economy shows signs of recovery. According to Tokyo Shoko Research, 1,087 firms went bust in April, up 14.9% from the same month a year ago. The increase is not necessarily bad news, and comes as banks try to clean up bad loans and the state cuts the amount of aid and support it offers. Analysts say a key part of Japan's economic recovery will be improving efficiency in the business marketplace. As a result, they add, unprofitable companies need to be allowed to go bust so that they can be replaced by new and, hopefully, better-run ones. Analysts say corporate churn of this kind is a sign of economic rebirth and may, in fact, point to a lasting recovery. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4989200.stm

Details of a classified government wiretap program will be given to full congressional committees for the first time on Wednesday, senior politicians said.The intelligence committees of both the House and Senate will be briefed on the National Security Agency's eavesdropping program, the chairmen of the panels said.Previously only a handful of senior senators and congressmen were told about the domestic spying operation authorized by the president, which is run outside the court system.The wiretapping will be a "central" topic of discussions of whether to approve Gen. Michael Hayden as the next CIA chief, Sen Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, said in a prepared statement. Hayden's hearing is to begin Thursday....http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/17/nsa/index.html?section=cnn_us

A new security force consisting of around 3,000 Islamic militants was deployed by the Hamas-led Palestinian government across the Gaza Strip today. The creation of the force is Hamas's most fierce challenge yet to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Mr Abbas, of the Fatah party, had officially vetoed the creation of the force. But Hamas said it was needed to bring order to the chaotic Gaza Strip and to confront marauding gangs of armed men who have been terrorising citizens."The formation of this unit is illegal," said Maher Mekdad, a Fatah spokesman in Gaza. "It violates the presidential decree, and it's a unit outside the law." ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1776909,00.html?gusrc=rss